STAT+: State laws may be curbing private equity takeovers of physician group

Over a dozen states now have laws enhancing their oversight of private equity deals in health care. A new report says that’s putting a crimp in dealmaking.

Physician practice management is on track to see about half the number of deals this year as it did in 2025. Investments in the businesses, which run clinics’ billing and operations, have plummeted from a high of 851 deals in 2021 to just 105 in the first half of 2026, according to new data from PitchBook .

“It’s certainly been a big decrease,” said Paul Pitts, a partner with Reed Smith who works with health care providers.